argia.eus
INPRIMATU
A year of strike
  • It is a year since the workers of the residences of Bizkaia are on strike in defense of their claims: A sectoral agreement with a 35-hour working week, more staff, improved quality of care, salaries of 1,200 euros and increased coverage of allowances or savings.
Juan Mari Arregi 2017ko urriaren 24a
(Argazkia: Argazki Press / Marisol Ramirez)

When a principle was reached in agreement with Gesca, the most important employer in the sector, and the hope of finding a solution to the conflict arose, the intransigence of the employers Lares and Elbe again blocked the negotiation. It is precisely the associations that have hindered these groups that receive local and forcible public funding. That is why the majority trade union in nursing homes ELA has asked the Provincial Government of Bizkaia to intervene to unblock the situation, even though it has not so far responded positively. But it seems that in the negotiations of the last few days all the parties have moved and that the agreement is very close.

The strikers who are mobilizing month by month on the street have made a walking march last week to make the conflict visible. The municipal institutions and residences that block the possible agreement have been directly questioned through this initiative. The march began in Bilbao and, after touring several villages in Bizkaia, has recently ended in front of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia.

The participants in this column have again appealed to the foral institution to resolve the situation once and for all. The more than 5,000 people who work in the sector and the more than 7,000 elderly people they serve do not deserve the role that public institutions have played in the conflict: they have contributed to the interests of employers, to the precariousness and misery of the workers, which has damaged the service to our elderly. The Member of Bizkaia would have to unblock the situation at this very moment.